The Orphanage
by CrystalIceSweet
Summary: Pepper should have known that Tony never does what he was supposed to do and leave it at that. This said, even she was confused how a simple visit to the orphanage for PR purposes ended up with Tony adopting 3 of the weirdest kids she has ever met. Genius!Harry. SLASH. De-Aged Golden trio. Stony.
1. Summary

**Summary:** Pepper should have known that Tony never did what he was supposed to do and leave it at that. This said, even she was confused how a simple visit to the orphanage for PR purposes ended up with Tony adopting 3 of the weirdest kids she has ever met. Genius!Harry and Hermione. Precognitive!Ron. SLASH. De-Aged Golden trio. Stony.

**Disclaimer:** None of the characters belong to me. This is also an AU so the dates won't be canon.

**A/N**: Thank you so much for the wonderful support you've shown me. Hopefully, this story won't disappoint.


	2. Chapter 1

**Chapter 1**

* * *

"It's weird," said Ron Weasley, breaking the silence that had settled over the small reading room where he and his two best friend had spent the last 3 hours, "I think something's going to happen soon."

"What's going to happen?" Hermione Granger asked, looking up from her book. It was a huge volume on Applied Mathematics she had borrowed from the local library. With her 5 years old body, she could barely hold the book up and had to prop it against her knees as she sat on the floor, reading.

"I don't know," Ron answered, frowning down at his lap. He looked troubled.

The young girl let out a sigh of frustration, sounding more put-upon then any child her age should feel. She was obviously not satisfied with that answer.

"Let him be," Harry chided, interrupting the duo before a fight could break out. "You know Ron only has feelings not cold facts. And besides, why do you care so much? What's going to happen will happen and nothing we or anyone else for that matter can do anything about it."

Predictably, Hermione made a face but subsided. Although he didn't really agree, Harry understood what she was going through. The lack of control she had even over her own life had always irked her. She was the planning type, not the sit-and-wait type. Harry on the other hand was expert at waiting; mostly because he has given up any pretense of caring what happened to himself a long time ago.

* * *

Tony Stark gaped.

"Ah," he said, "No way in hell. You know how I feel about children."

"I'm well aware of how you feel about children," Pepper replied, her tone patient. "Everyone knows how you feel about children so that's why this is so important. You little tantrum during that hospital visit had truly damaged your reputation. This is damage control."

"That little brat had it coming," Tony pouted, crossing his arms over his chest, "It wasn't my fault."

"I know you couldn't help it," Pepper said soothingly, "I'm well aware that you have the impulse control of a 5 years old. However, the media and the public for that matter don't always see it that way."

"Pepper," Tony whined, eyes going huge, "Can't I do anything else?"

"This orphanage was funded by the Maria Stark Foundation," she repeated, her tone firm, "The director of the orphanage was nice enough to invite us to visit so you are going to get dressed, get in the car, get there, pose for some pictures for the nice people of the press and spend 2 hours with the children. Then you can come home and sulk all you want."

"Jarvis," Tony complained, "Are you hearing this?"

"And I quite agree with Ms. Potts, sir," said the AI, "From what I gather, your reputation has indeed taken a hit as consequence of your actions at the London Children's Hospital. If damage control initiatives are not deployed, this will impact Stark Industries' share prices."

Pepper give him a triumphant grin.

Tony opened his mouth to argue some more, not willing to let the matter drop just yet.

"Luckily," she said, cutting him off, "You are not going alone."

This made Tony pause.

"I'm not?" he repeated.

As if on cue, Steve Rogers walked in, sporting a pair of form hugging jeans coupled with am Ironman t-shirt that did wonders for his upper-body.

"Hi Tony," he greeted him and turned to Pepper, "And good morning Ms. Potts. Are we ready to go?"

"You're coming too?" Tony asked, his voice a little strangled.

"Oh?" Steve sounded confused, "Didn't you ask me to come along?"

"Yes he did," Pepper interrupted, "He's a little absent-minded this morning."

"That's fine," Steve replied easily, smiling at Tony. The billionaire was momentarily blinded by that grin. "It's awfully nice for you to take some time off your busy schedule to visit these children. Thank you so much for inviting me. I always wanted to have kids, you know. This will be great."

"Yeah," Tony said, glaring at Pepper when Steve turned to leave. _Well played._

Pepper just smiled innocently back at him.

* * *

The car dropped them off in front of a dilapidated-looking building that had seen better days. A wooden sign - on which the words St-Wool's Orphanage were written in black - was the only thing that told visitors that this was an orphanage and not a piece of abandoned real estate. Was this really the best the Maria Stark Foundation could do? Tony had never been to an orphanage before but he was sure this building wasn't even fit to house animals, let alone children.

"Oh god," said Steve.

Tony winced a little. He had to echo his friend's feelings. He was going to have a talk with the Foundation's managers and find out what on Earth was going on. If he discovers that some of them have been mismanaging his funds, he was going to be very angry.

The press had already arrived, concentrated in a small group near the entrance. They poured on to him like rabid dogs the moment he had stepped out of the car.

"Mr. Stark! Mr. Stark!" they cried, their voices an almost incomprehensible cacophony of noises.

"One person at a time, please," he said loudly.

The fury died down.

"Mr. Stark," a blond woman using an iPhone as a recorder stepped up, "I'm Linda Tyler from the New York Times. Mr. Stark, do you have any comments regarding the state of this orphanage? From I understand, this was entirely funded by the Maria Stark Foundation."

"I do," Tony replied, mindful of the way he answered. Beside him, Steve stiffened, uncomfortable with the attention. He'll have to get this over with as soon as possible. "I am not pleased with this situation and rest assured, I will be making changes. Children are our future and letting them grow up in such deplorable conditions is inhumane."

There were a few other questions after that, but Tony quickly told them that they had an appointment with the orphanage's director and made their escape.

"Wow," Steve said weakly once they were safely within the four walls of the building itself. "That was…"

"The press at their finest," Tony replied with a snort, "They don't really care about the children. All they want is a good story. If they get to defame me even further, then that's just an added bonus."

"I think you're a great person," Steve said quietly. Tony had to smile at that. They really had came a long way from their tremendous first meeting all those years ago. Now, they were less enemies and more friends. Tony would always be grateful for the change.

"Mr. Stark."

He turned.

A young man dressed comfortably in jeans approached them.

"Mr. Stark. Mr. Rogers, thank you so much for coming."

"It's our pleasure," Tony shook the man's hand and watched Steve do the same.

"I'm Dylan Campbell," the man introduced himself, "I'm the current director's personal assistant. He told me to come get you."

"Will we be meeting him in his office?"

"Yes," Dylan replied, "Afterwards, you can spend time with the children. They are all very excited that you two are here. We don't get many celebrities visiting. Come, I'll bring you to the main office."

They started walking.

"How many children are here?" Steve asked, easily keeping up with Dylan's pace.

"20 at the moment," the PA replied, "That's our maximum. We don't have the room for more."

"I'll be talking to the Foundation about putting more money in to this place," Tony added, "Maybe hire some contractors to give it a makeover."

Dylan gave him a grateful grin.

"That would be fantastic, Mr. Stark. Thank you."

They walked for another minute before their guide stopped in front of a small door.

"The director is waiting for you."

He knocked.

* * *

"It's happening," said Ron.

Hermione snorted, eyes still glued to the window.

"No shit Sherlock," she grumbled.

"Hermione," Harry chided, but his heart wasn't in it. "Language."

"Sorry mother," she rolled her eyes. How had the once studious little angel become so rebellious was anyone's guess.

"The press is gathered down there like a pack of animals," Ron frowned, "Must be some big celebrity."

"It's Tony Stark," Harry said.

They all turned to stare at him.

"You don't know?" he asked, surprised, "That's the only thing everyone have been talking about."

"I guess I haven't been paying attention," Hermione said a little sheepishly.

Ron sighed.

"I wonder what this will mean for us."

"This won't mean anything for us," Harry grumbled, "They're not here to adopt, just visit. Probably some PR campaign. Stark did mess up good on his last visit at the Children's Hospital."

They were staring again.

"What?" Harry asked.

"How do you even know all this?"

He snorted.

"I read the news, genius," he replied, "And I'm interested in Stark. He's…special. His mind is incredible at any rate."

"Then I'm glad you're get to meet him."

Hermione pushed herself off her seat, picking up Harry's book from the table and handing it to him. When he only stared at her in confusion, she sighed.

"It's written by Stark right?" she asked, pointing to the cover, "Get him to sign it for you. It'll be great for his ego."

"I don't know…" Harry bit his lip in thought.

"You guys are ridiculous," Ron grumbled. He cast a quick glance at his watch. "11.15. They'll be calling us for lunch soon."

"Ronald," Hermione sighed, "You're always hungry."

"Well, yeah," said Ron, "That's the only true pleasure in life."

Harry rolled his eyes and let their predictable squabbling wash over him. 15 minutes until lunch; maybe he can finish his chapter.

* * *

"Alright, alright," Tony forced a smile, "Why don't you guys pes-play with Steve for a while? I'm going to go get some food."

He wasn't exactly hungry at the moment, but any excuse to get rid of those demons, he will take it.

"Children," said Dylan, coming over to interfere, "Let Mr. Stark eat. You can talk with him later on."

_I hope not. _

Sighing, Tony walked towards the buffet table, where an assortment of meat and vegetable were set out. It was far from the 5-stars gourmet dining he was used to but it was better than what he had expected given the exterior of the orphanage.

"Hi."

Tony started, looking around for a moment before remembering where he was and looked down. A young boy – about 5 he would say – with hair so red that it made him blink, stood. He was looking up at him with a strange expression.

"Hi," Tony replied, crouching down so he was at eye-level. "What's your name?"

"Ron," the boy answered; short and succinct. It was a refreshing change from the little hellions he had been forced to entertain for the past 20 minutes.

"Ron!" he heard another voice, this one female. An adorable little girl with curly brown hair walked up to them. He sent Ron a truly disapproving look. It reminded him so much of Pepper that it took him everything not to laugh.

"Sorry Hermione," Ron mumbled.

"Stick together, remember?" Hermione continued, relentless. "Don't leave us behind and run off."

"Leave him be Hermione," said a third voice. Another boy, this one with messy black hair, joined their little group. He was carrying a book so big he had difficultly walking.

Hermione sighed but dropped the subject.

"It's nice to meet you Mr. Stark," she said instead, smiling at Tony.

"Hmm, yeah," Tony said, her change of attitude giving him whiplash.

"I'm Hermione," she continued, "This is Ron and this is Harry."

Tony nodded to each of the children in turn but stopped when his gaze rested on Harry…or more precisely, the book Harry was carrying.

"Is that…my book?"

He was confused. What was a child doing with a MIT engineering text book.

"It is sir," Harry smiled up at him, "I haven't finished it yet, but the topic is truly fascinating."

Tony stared in disbelief.

"Do you actually understand what you are reading?"

"Oh I do," Harry nodded, "The chapter about the theory behind cold fusion was particularly interesting. I made a lot of parallels between the book and your article on the arc reactor."

Tony gaped; his mouth opening without his consent. He knew genius of course, he had once been a child genius after all. But this level of intelligence had been unheard of. A child capable of understanding advanced notions of nuclear engineering? This was one of the Guinness Records.

"Harry wants you to sign his book," Hermione interjected, pushing Harry towards him.

Tony blinked out of his shock.

"Of course," he quickly took out a pen and scribbled his name. "So, are all of you guys this smart as well?"

It had been meant as a joke.

"Hermione's a math wizard," Harry chirped happily, turning to his friend.

"Math wizard?"

Harry nodded emphatically.

"She can visualize complex mathematical equations in her head. Ask her anything."

"How about 3213123213 divided by 565656?" he offered, unable to believe what was happening.

It took Hermione a second to answer.

"5680.3485," she said, confident.

Tony quickly took out his cell and did the calculations.

She was right.

"And," he took a deep breath and turned towards the red haired boy, "What about you?"

"Ron's not a genius like us," Hermione told him. "He's special in another way."

"Ron knows stuff," Harry said, "If you ask him a yes or no question, he never gets it wrong."

"And he sometimes have feelings when something big is about to happen."

"Really," Tony said breathlessly. If what they were saying was true, such power could be used for many great and terrible things. It all seemed to unreal in Tony's mind, but he couldn't conceive any possible reason why Harry would lie to him. He debated on whether to test out this so called-ability but decided against it. For the moment, he'll play along. Besides, if 5 years olds with the intellect to comprehend advanced science and do complex math equations in their heads exists, why couldn't 5 years old with psychic power exist as well? "But why are you guys so forthcoming with all this? If people knew, they would definitely take advantage of you."

"We asked Ron if it was safe to tell you," Hermione replied, "He said yes."

"We always trust Ron's Yes or No answers." Harry smiled toothily up at him.

Steve took that moment to appear.

"Tony, are you-" he cut himself off when he saw the 3 children. "Oh hello."

"Hello," all three said at the same time and Tony watched as Steve practically melted.

And just like that, Tony's decision was made.

"Hey Steve, where's Mr. Campbell?"

"He had to go to the office for a moment," Steve answered, "Why?"

Tony grinned at the trio.

"How would you guys like to come live with me?"

"Are you going to adopt us?" Ron asked. His eyes widened as he answered his own question.

"Tony!" Steve sounded absolutely flabbergasted.

"Ron?"

It took a moment before Ron nodded.

Tony smiled.

"Why don't you guys go get something to eat. I'll be back soon with the paperwork. Steve, keep them company?"

"Sure," Steve said, sounding lost.

Tony grinned.

Once home, he was going to buy Pepper the biggest thank you gift known to men.

**TBC**.


	3. Chapter 2

**Chapter 2**

A/N: Thank you so much for all the wonderful support. I'm extremely happy that you guys seem to enjoy this. So here's the next chapter. Before we start, just two announcements:**  
**

**A/N: TUMBLR UPDATE – myficscrystal dot tumblr dot com**

First of all, thank you so much to everyone who have followed me on Tumblr. These are the current fics I have posted. If you are interested, head over and take a look. Follow me to get my fics on your dash. If you have any questions regarding Tumblr, please message me. The reason why I post on Tumblr vs Ffn is because of the ratings and vs AO3 is because it's easier to format on Tumblr (and I have already started on Tumblr).

**Here are the fics:**

An Unexpected Romance (Stiles S./Peter Hale – Multichapter 1/?) Rating M next chapter.

Sterek Celebrity AU with Actor!Derek and Student!Stiles (Stiles/Derek – Multichapter 2/?)

Unconventional (Harry Potter/Tony Stark – Multichapter 4/?) Rating M next chapter.

Coffee shop (Kurt (Glee)/Harry Potter – Multichapter 1/?)

Blue Moon (Harry Potter/Tony Stark – Multichapter 2/?) Rating M really soon.

Gary Unwin (Alex Rider/Harry Hart – Multichapter 1/?)

I will be posting at least once per day. Come check it out.

Now, without further ado, here's the chapter.

**Second** **Announcement**: I have given permission to user Halfway to Reality to use my idea. Her first chapter is nearly identical to mine but she promised her second chapter will be entirely different. Her fic is called Found so check it out.

Ok, without further ado, this is the chapter.

Enjoy.

* * *

**Chapter 2**

* * *

Pepper Potts stared down at the three pairs of eyes looking up at her and blinked.

"Tony," she said, sounding weary. "What is going on?"

"Pepper! Pep," Tony replied happily, bouncing in to the room, both hands occupied by bags, "Meet Harry, Ron and Hermione. I adopted them."

Pepper blinked again.

"Excuse me?" she asked, unsure if she had heard correctly, "Did you say you adopted them?"

"I'm afraid so, Ms. Potts," Steve replied, coming in to the room as well. He gave her an apologetic look before handing each of the children a juice box.

"Tony," Pepper said, trying not to freak out. "You do know these are actual breathing human beings who are still too young to take care of themselves."

"Of course I do," Tony said, sounding offended.

"Then why on Earth did you think this was a good idea?"

One visit; one visit; that's all she had asked for. She was sure that even Tony Stark couldn't make a mess of it. She was now proven wrong.

"Don't you like us?" a small voice asked. Pepper looked down to see the little girl pouting adorably at her and her anger melted away.

"Oh sweetie," Pepper said, crouching down, "It's not like that. I'm just worried. Your new adoptive father here is just a toddler in disguise. He can't even seem to remember to eat most days. How is he going to look after your needs?"

"We can take care of ourselves," the black haired boy said confidently. "We can."

"They're brighter then they look," Tony told her and promptly burst in to snorts of laughter. She turned to Steve in confusion. Had she missed something?

"Don't worry about it," Steve said, "I'll bring the kids to their rooms. Tony, can you do something for dinner?"

"Sure," Tony grinned at Steve, "I'll take care of it."

Steve gave him a fond look before disappearing from the room along with the three children.

Pepper's eyes narrowed.

"Steve seems to like them," she said off-handedly.

"Steve likes children," Tony replied, "He said he had always wanted children."

Pepper bit her lip.

"This is not some weird courting gift right?" she wanted to make sure, "Because that would be extreme, even for you."

"No!" Tony choked, eyes wide, "God, woman, what have you been reading on your days off?"

"That's none of your business," Pepper snapped, blushing despite herself. Her tastes in literature will never see the light of day if she had something to say about it.

"Fine," Tony sighed, "Whatever. It's not a courting gift so get your mind out of the gutter. I liked them and I feel they were wasting their potentials at that orphanage. Oh," his eyes widened, "Talking about that orphanage, can you contact the manager for the Maria Stark Foundation. I want them to put money in to renovating that place. Its current condition is pretty horrid."

"Tony," Pepper opened her mouth, but shut it at Tony's look.

She sighed in resignation.

"Fine," she said, "You have always been a stubborn man so arguing with you will bring us no good. I just hope you know what you are doing."

"We'll be fine," Tony waved his hands dismissively, "We have Steve, don't we? How can having Captain America as a parent be a bad thing."

Pepper simply shook her head in exasperation, unsure of what to say. Tony beamed at her, taking her silence as admission of defeat.

* * *

"So here we are," said Hermione.

An hour has passed since leaving the orphanage; 40 minutes since they arrived at Stark Manor. After showing them to the massive room they would be sharing, Steve had left them alone to unpack. They didn't have a lot of stuff in their bags, but they were all grateful for the chance to talk without the others present.

"Are we alone?" Harry asked Ron.

"No," Ron replied.

"No?" both Hermione and Harry parroted back in confusion.

"I really don't see anyone here."

"Is anyone here?" Harry asked out loud and nearly jumped 10 feet in to the air when a British voice replied: "Good afternoon. My name is Jarvis."

"Jarvis," Harry repeated the name, before smiling, "You're the AI."

"Yes indeed young master," Jarvis replied, "I am indeed the AI in charge of running this house. Although I have to be omnipresent to do my job, do not worry that I will share whatever happens here with anyone else."

"But Stark can force it out of you," Hermione commented, "He's your creator."

"Master Stark has ordered me to keep all surveillance videos secret unless he has an extremely good reason to view them."

Harry let out a groan.

"We don't really have a choice," he told the others.

"No," Hermione admitted, looking distinctly unhappy, "Ron? Why did you say this was a good idea? We could have stayed at the orphanage until we were old enough to carry out our mission."

"We need resources Hermione," Ron said, "Resources we don't have back at the orphanage."

"Ron's right," Harry added, lowering his voice a little, "This is not our world anymore. We can't even be sure we are the same people. We may look like ourselves, but our DNA may have changed. If we were a little older, we could have tried to gain access to our vaults through Gringotts' New York branch, but even then, there's no guarantee."

Hermione sighed in resignation, knowing she was beaten.

"This is so stupid," she pouted, her age showing in her expression, "Why can't magic let us move on like everyone else? I don't want to have to participate in saving another world from utter destruction."

"Hermione," Harry said, eyes narrowing, "What we are sent here to do is extremely important. You know that."

"Yeah," Ron snorted, "This world is heading towards a muggle genocide and we're here to prevent it. Yay, we get to play the heroes again."

"Ron," Harry snapped, "Not the attitude to take."

"No," Ron agreed, sobering, "I'm sorry Harry, it's just, I don't know how we are going to approach this."

"Ron's right," Hermione said, "We are given these powers for a reason, but I don't see how being good at math or being good at science could help us elsewhere than the muggle world."

"Arithmancy is math," Harry said, "Or have you already forgotten the importance of numbers?"

"Oh yeah," Ron lit up, "Spell crafting uses Arithmancy, I remember that much."

Hermione looked down.

"I'm sorry guys, I'm bringing everyone down. I guess we have to think positive."

"We can get Stark to help," Harry said, "He is the Genius of his time. If there's any muggle who can built something impervious to magical attacks, it would be him. Maybe that's why fate had led him to us."

"But that would be admitting the existence of magic," Ron hissed, "Can we be sent to Azkaban for that?"

They were silent for a few moments as they thought.

"Hey, just a thought," Ron piped up again, "What do you think happened to the Ron, Hermione and Harry of this world?"

"I think they're still alive," Hermione replied, "That's what He implied. If they were dead, we could have entered this universe in our old bodies. We were de-aged to prevent the universe from imploding."

"Maybe we can find a way to contact them," Ron suggested helpfully.

"We could," Harry admitted, "Merlin I hate being a kid. Everything is just so…big."

"We have no contacts in the Wizarding world," Hermione sighed, "We have to be patient. Besides, the Dark Lord of this world won't appear until 2025. We have 15 years to plan."

"Do you think we'll be going to Hogwarts?" Ron asked hopefully, "I don't want to be stuck in the muggle world."

"Maybe," Harry sighed, "But since there is already a "Us" in this world, I don't even know if we will be considered as potential students by the Book of Names."

"I hate waiting," Ron deflated, "And I really hate not knowing the rules of this new game we are forced to play."

Hermione looked around.

"But it's not all bad," she said, "This room is huge. Besides, Stark may be a little absent-minded but he seemed nice enough. And Mr. Rogers is really good looking." The last part was said a little dreamily.

"Hermione," Harry said, aghast, "You're 5. You are not of the age to find anyone good looking…especially men 3 times your current age."

"Yes Hermione," Ron grinned, "Boys have cooties…remember?"

Hermione opened her mouth to say something scathing before snapping it shut.

"This is so frustrating, I can't even call you guys childish because you are technically still children."

Harry and Ron shared a grin.

Even with the countdown before this world burns under the tyranny of a mad man, for now at least, this doesn't seem so bad after all.

**TBC**


	4. Chapter 3

**Summary**: Pepper should have known that Tony never does what he was supposed to do and leave it at that. This said, even she was confused how a simple visit to the orphanage for PR purposes ended up with Tony adopting 3 of the weirdest kids she has ever met.

**Warnings: Genius!Harry. SLASH. De-Aged Golden trio. Stony.**

**A/N: Thank you so much for the wonderful support. Here's the next chapter. If you like my stories, go check out my tumblr at myficscrystal dot tumblr dot com. Enjoy.**

* * *

**Chapter 3**

"Hey Stark," said Clint, coming in to the kitchen, already dressed in the outfit he used for workouts, "Is it true that you and Cap are considering getting married and move to Canada with your progenies in tow?"

Tony choked.

"Excuse me?" he spun around to look at Clint, "Where on Earth did you get that information?"

"From TMZ," Clint said, unrepentant and looked down at Ron. "I heard you adopted some kids but I wasn't sure if it was real."

"Yeah, it's real," Tony put a hand on Ron's head, "This is Ron, he's one of the three children who will be living here from now on."

"Three," Clint laughed, "Wow Stark, you never do things halfway."

"Talking about halfway," Tony huffed, turning his attention back to the fridge, "Someone ate half the chocolate cake I have been saving for late. Any ideas on who?"

"No," Clint said, "Of course not."

Sighing, Tony turned to Ron.

"Tell me," he said, "Does Clint know who ate the cake?"

"Yes," Ron replied automatically, making Clint stare at him incredulously.

"Are you going to believe a little brat over your own teammate?" he asked, but Tony ignored him.

"Tell me," he said, "Did Clint eat my cake?"

"Yes," Ron said, smiling toothily up at Tony. Tony smirked and turned to Clint.

"Confess bird brain," he snapped, "Why did you eat my cake?"

"I didn't eat your cake," Clint protested but the way he was biting his lip was a dead giveaway.

Tony sighed.

"You owe me half a cake," he told him, closing the fridge door.

"You're a billionaire," Clint complained, "Couldn't you just buy another cake?"

"Not the point," Tony smirked at him, "It's the principle of the matter."

"I'm telling Cap," the other man whined, sounding for all the world like a 5 years old about to tattle on one of his parents.

Tony choked for the second time during that conversation.

"What are you? Five?" he asked incredulously, "Are you seriously going to go tattle to Steve?"

"Oh Stark," Clint smiled innocently, "I have no shame."

With that said, he turned around and left.

"Well," Tony glanced down at Ron who was now staring out the window in interest, "Hey buddy? What's so interesting out there?"

"Nothing," Ron suddenly said, but his tone clearly showed that something was wrong.

Tony sighed.

"Alright," he ruffled Ron's hair, "I'll wait for you to tell me."

Ron looked surprise at the concession before beaming at him. Tony felt as if he had just taken a big step in their relationship.

* * *

"Stark, why are there children here?"

"Natasha," Tony beamed at her and received a glare for his troubles, "Didn't you know? I adopted them."

"And what on Earth made you think that was a good idea?" the assassin deadpanned, "You can't take care of yourself most of the time, how are you going to take care of 3 children."

"I have Steve," Tony pouted, crossing his arms over his chest, "Steve will help me."

"I will," confirmed Steve, coming in to the living room with Hermione trotting behind him, "Hey Nat. It's good to see you again. You're not hurt right?"

"Everything's fine," Natasha confirmed, but her attention was on Hermione. "Hello there."

"Hello," Hermione said, blinking brown doe eyes up at her. She was wearing the same dress Tony had seen her in the first time they had met.

This was not acceptable.

"Hey Nat, Hermione here needs some new clothing. Think you can bring her to the store?"

Natasha looked surprised by the request but the fact that she hadn't refused on the spot gave Tony hope.

"Oh," Hermione bit her lips, looking down, "My cloth are fine Mr. Stark. I don't need new ones just yet."

And that was enough to make the infamous Black Widow melt.

"No, a little girl should have more than a few outfits," she told Hermione, "It's one of the perks of being a woman. Besides, your adoptive father is loaded; it would be criminal not to take advantage of that."

"Don't put ideas in her head," Tony chided her but he was smiling.

From the pockets of his pants, he took out his wallet and extracted a sleek black credit card.

"Use this one," he said, handing it over to Natasha, "It doesn't require a password and you don't have to worry about the limit. I'll be impressed if you managed to spend anything near what this card is authorized for."

"Don't say it like a challenge," Natasha smiled innocently at him before extending a hand to Hermione, "Want to go shop? We can get ice cream on the way."

"Ok," Hermione replied cheerfully and allowed herself to be led out.

"That was adorable," said Steve, looking fondly at where the duo had been, "I never knew Nat was the motherly type."

"She's not," Tony shivered at the mere thought of it, "But I think Hermione is just that good."

"At least that's one kid occupied," Steve sighed, looking a little tired, "I never knew how tough it was to take care of 3 children until now."

"But you don't regret it, right?" asked Tony, suddenly worried Steve was asking to back out.

Steve laughed and put a hand on Tony's bicep; the touch warm and welcoming. Tony shivered a little. Maybe Pepper was right; maybe what he was feeling for Steve was more than simple friendship. It was time for him to man up and admit it, even though anything like that happening between him and Steve seemed impossible.

"No Tony," Steve said softly, "I don't regret it."

"Oh," Tony let out a sigh, "That's good."

They fell silent after that.

* * *

"Mr. Stark?"

Tony looked down at Harry. The little boy was standing near the sofa looking nervous.

"Don't call me Mr. Stark," he said, "It's Tony."

"Tony," Harry grinned, "Do you think I can see your lab?"

"Oh," Tony jumped up, "Oh! Of course you can. Is Ron coming with you?"

"No," Harry shook his head, "Ron's taking a nap." He snickered at his own words.

"That's a good idea," Tony said, "I myself have never been a nap person, but I can see the appeal."

"I don't like naps," Harry replied, "I'll sleep when there's nothing else for me to do."

For some reason, that statement felt darker than it was.

"Right," Tony cleared his throat, "Come on now. I'll bring you to the lab and introduce you to my bots."

Dummy was the first to come greet them as they entered. He waved his only arm cheerfully and Harry laughed, delighted.

Smiling, Tony called the other bots over and pointed them out one by one.

"That's Dummy, that's U and that's Butterfingers."

"Those are weird names," Harry commented, looking at each of them one by one, "They're so cool. Are they all programmed with an AI?"

"All of them," Tony replied proudly, "Dummy was the first one I built. That was a long time ago."

"I remember," Harry beamed at him, "I read it once in a news article. You were only 17."

"And drunk of my ass," Tony laughed, not censoring his language as much as he should, "I call Dummy my special bot because he's a little special."

"I think he's wonderful," Harry sat down next to Dummy and giggled when the bot tried to pick him up by the back of his shirt.

"No Dummy," he said but Harry shook his head.

"It's ok," he told Tony, "He's just playing."

"Mr. Stark," Jarvis' voice suddenly interrupted the moment, "Master Ronald wants to speak with you. He's in his room."

"Of course," Tony turned to Harry, "Do you want to come with or stay here?"

"I'll stay here," Harry replied, "Can I fiddle around while I wait?"

"Sure kid," Tony ruffled Harry's hair, "Go nuts. Jarvis, please keep an eye on him?"

"Naturally sir," Jarvis replied.

* * *

He found Ron exactly as Jarvis had said, sitting in his room reading a newspaper.

"Ron," Tony sat down next to the boy. "Is something wrong?"

Ron looked up at his words before jumping off the bed to get something from his desk. He came back and handed it over to Tony. The billionaire was surprised to find that he was holding a flight plan.

"British Airways 453; Pepper is supposed to be on that flight. What's wrong?"

Ron shivered, looking down.

"I have a very bad feeling about it," he said, "Maybe Ms. Potts can take a later flight."

Tony's heart skipped a beat.

"Better safe then sorry," Ron said and Tony nodded.

"I'll go make the call," he said, "Thank you for telling me."

Ron nodded but didn't reply. He still looked pretty upset for some reason so Tony reached over and give him a one armed hug.

"Thank you," he repeated, smiling.

Living with two prodigies and one precognitive was going to take some getting used to, but Tony was sure he had made the right choice, no matter how reckless it was.

**TBC.**


End file.
